From Jan. 2010 to Jan. 2011, there was an increase of 1.3 million people in the 15 years and over age bracket. Unemployment and underemployment rates have remained flat but the labor force participation rate (LFPR) has declined to only 63.7 percent of the population 15 years and older.

A decline in LFPR means that more people have opted out of the labor market and pursued some studies, or just stopped looking for another job at the time the survey was conducted. Possibly they were thinking that since they will not find a good job anyway, they opted to stay home or pursued some studies to retool themselves.

Hence, the endless challenge to create more jobs, to encourage the private sector employers to start and expand hiring.